True Colors

Best Date Ever (Part 1)

August 30, 2019

Apollo knocked on Leila's apartment door. "Just a second!" he heard, and the door quickly opened, revealing a smiling Leila with her long, dark hair in a ponytail. When she was working, she was always formally dressed, but today, she was casual, wearing a black running jacket and a pair of printed leggings. "I don't know why you still insist on knocking. You have a key. Just let yourself in."

"Are you ready to go?" he asked. 

"Just need to grab my shoes quickly." She went back into her apartment. "Come in." 

"So," he started, ambling into her small but cozy living room, "did I ever tell you what we're doing?" 

"No, you did not. And it's been driving me crazy." She crossed her eyes and made an adorably silly face at him. Everything she does is adorable.

He shook himself before she could realize he'd been staring off into space. Apollo tucked his hands into his pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet. He too was dressed more casually than usual in blue jeans and a button up shirt with the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. "Well, we're going to spend at least an hour or two at the butterfly house and then we're going to eat some greasy fast food from whichever place is nearest and we'll spend the afternoon at the aquarium, before coming back here for pizza, movies, and hopefully lots of snuggling on the couch."

Leila's expression lit up, and she reminded him of a kid in a candy shop. "Sounds like the perfect day!" she exclaimed. She jumped up from the chair where she'd been putting on her tennis shoes and headed for the door. "You coming or what?"

Apollo grinned at her behavior. At that moment, she reminded him so much of his niece, Amber. "What are you talking about? I've been waiting for you!" 

They chased each other through the halls of the apartment complex, no doubt disturbing countless residents, and giggled like a couple of teenagers in the back seat of the taxi for the whole ride, which clearly annoyed the driver, so Apollo made sure to give him a fairly large tip. Once they'd reached their destination, Leila froze. 

"What's up?" Apollo asked. 

"It's just…" she faltered before responding. "I feel like a second grader going on their class field trip. Because this is actually what I did on my second field trip. My class went to the butterfly house, and since the aquarium didn't exist yet, they had a little exhibit with rays and baby sand sharks."

"Does that mean I get to meet eight year old Leila today?" he teased. 

"Shut up." She shoved his shoulder. "Unlike you, I've matured since I was eight."

As they entered the butterfly house, it was apparent to Apollo that eight year old Leila was still very much a part of the Leila he knew. Her mouth practically hung open as they walked through, with her pointing out different butterflies on flowers and fruit that were strategically placed along the path. 

"Look at that one!" She practically squealed as she grabbed his arm. "It looks like it has eyes and then it opens its wings and suddenly it's all blue and it's so pretty!" 

"Yes, Leila, I see it." He couldn't help but smile. She definitely still had that childhood spirit in her. 

Leila froze as a butterfly landed on her bright red purse. "Apollo," she whispered. "What do I do?! It's right there!"

"You can keep walking," he told her, gently pulling her along. "The butterfly just saw the bright color of your bag and thought it was a funny-looking flower. It will eventually fly away." 

"What if I hurt it, though? Didn't you read the signs? Butterflies are super fragile. I don't want to kill it!"

He sighed. "You aren't going to kill it. Just let it be and keep moving. It will fly away in a minute or two." 

"Okay." Leila took a deep breath and hesitantly stepped forward. The butterfly was unaffected. She slowly continued to make her way along the path, carefully avoiding the butterfly. After another minute or so, the colorful insect finally flew away. 

"I told you it would be fine," Apollo laughed. 

"Okay, yeah, but what if it wasn't?" she fired back. 

"I'm fully convinced that you are still eight years old."

"That's mean!" She frowned up at him through thick eyelashes. 

He laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You're really not helping your cause. But that face is pretty cute." 

"I can't even be mad at you, because this is literally the best date we've had so far." 

A/N: So I literally wrote this entire chapter last night. I was on an eight day trip that was super busy. I ended up walking about 8-10 miles per day.  I had two days to write this chapter and I had no idea what I was going to write, so I started looking through my pictures from the trip, remembered the aquarium, and then decided to throw a butterfly house in there too. I then decided to split it into two or maybe three parts because otherwise this chapter would be ridiculously long and I did not have time to write that. Sorry. Love y'all. See you next week!